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"Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength" (Is 40:31)

Advent begins not with a cute baby scene but one which might
even disturb us. We do not begin our Advent journey with the baby Jesus snuggled
in the arms of his parents all aglow in a tranquil postpartum nativity
scene. Instead we begin right in the middle of the birth pains that
accompany a difficult delivery. The prophet Isaiah lets out a gut wrenching
cry: “O God that you would tear open the heavens and come down.” The
world around us is in turmoil, God. We need your presence. Come and
occupy our world now! The world cries out for the Lord.

Nowadays people don’t like waiting. In the past I’ve thought
of waiting as wasted time, such as when I wait for a bus or in a denist’s
surgery. This kind of waiting requires little action on our part; it’s mostly a
matter of biding our time. Everything is so instantaneous that we no longer
know how to wait. Yet, these are opportunities to pray. The Second Reading from
St. Paul reminds us that as we wait, we do so with a grateful heart. We have
received so many gifts which help us as we wait, gifts which keep us faithful.
The Lord also asks us to pray as we wait. If we are too busy to pray then we
really are too busy. The same amount of time will pass whether I am squandering
it in impatience or using it to serve the Lord and His children. Choosing to
“wait upon the Lord” or viewed another way, to serve Him, yields far more
satisfying results.

A reflection I read on this Sunday’s Gospel invites us to
give thanks to all those who keep watch and wait for us. Who are the
doorkeepers in our lives who wait anxiously for us to welcome us, even when we
have strayed from them, blocked them out? There are doorkeepers who encourage
us and offer hospitality and words of advice to keep going along the pilgrim
way.

I love Night vigils. There is something very special about keeping watch in the
dark by the glow of candles or the moonlight. There is a stillness that the day
cannot encapture. But it is so easy to fall asleep, especially when you want to
stay awake! It is like during the Lough
Derg pilgrimage when have to stay awake all night as part of the penitential
element. You try to sneak a few secret minutes of zzzz’s before you get caught.
You keep moving position to stop your legs hopping with restlessness. It
requires effort to stay awake. Whilst the infographic offers practical tips for
staying awake, the question remains, how can we keep our soul awake for when
the Lord comes?

For this, the Church gives us Advent. It is four weeks of
being alert, of preparation. Advent always begins with a word about
wakefulness. The wakefulness that Jesus describes is a state of mind and body,
a practice, a way of being. It does not bear resemblance to the ways we usually
try to keep ourselves (or unwittingly find ourselves) awake, methods that
usually leave us jangly-nerved and less than fully functional, usually
caffeine-induced! Sometimes we exist more than live, or even worse we ‘survive’
and not live at all. Our Father wants us to thrive, not just survive. The
prophet Isaiah wrote to the believers of his day: “those who wait on the Lord
will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run
and not grow weary, they walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. Isn’t it amazing how
exhausted we can get doing God’s work?

Too often, rather than waiting patiently, quietly,
expectantly, and in his word, we are fretting and anxious and non-trusting and
our strength is drained. Those who wait on the Lord will soar on wings as
eagles! It is an interesting thing about eagles. They soar, they don’t fly. They
wait for the correct wind, and then they ride that wind, soaring to the
heights. Isn’t that a great picture for us as we wait on the Lord? When the
wind of the Spirit moves and blows, we ride with wings as eagles to where he
wants us to go.

Expectantly wait on Him. And when the Holy Spirit moves,
when the wind blows, then soar on wings like an eagle, run and not grow weary,
walk and not be faint. In the meantime, wait for Him. And while you are waiting
– renew your strength.

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